MYSTERY HAUNTS MAN

24 May 2017
FORTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Ronald Chiwanza of Chiweshe in Mashonaland Central province has been oozing blood since December last year from a wound which only started as a small ulcer on his right leg below the knee.

The condition has become a mystery after he was told that a bone was growing on top of the other on that leg.

The ulcer that was first noticed in 2007 then started spreading affecting his whole leg.

His medical records show that doctors, whom Chiwanza consulted at Harare Central Hospital, are still failing to figure out what he is suffering from.

Results of a scan conducted on his leg have indicated that he has a bone growing on top of another bone, making it a ‘mysterious’ disease.

Chiwanza has since moved to Harare’s Budiriro high density suburb where he is living in with his sister as he seeks medical attention and hoping for a solution to his agonising condition.

“It only started as a small ulcer in 2007 below the knee and then it didn’t give me any pain. I had my first x-ray in 2010 when the ulcer started to spread going down the leg and all this time I was seeking treatment at the local hospital.

The scan only revealed that I had a growth.
“By 2014, the ulcer started giving me a bit of pain yet still there was no diagnosis.

“By 2016, the ulcer was now very big, hard and was giving me unbearable pain. I then used a razor blade in December last year to cut it and it oozed so much blood such that I thought I would pass out from losing too much blood,” narrated Chiwanza.

The father of four who had sustained his family as a barber in Chiweshe said since 2014, he could not walk to the Shopping Centre where his barbershop is located.

“I came to Harare in December after it got worse, another scan was done and this time it revealed that I was developing another bone on top of the other. Zvamurikuwona tsinga idzi dzakabuda kudai dzirikundirwadza kudarika chironda chandinacho.

“The last time I went to Harare Central Hospital, a biopsy was recommended but I’m yet to have it done because I do not have the US$50. Since December, I have lost a lot of blood because almost every day the wound oozes blood,” he added.

Chiwanza’s sister, Grace, added that a lot of blood is oozing from the wound such that every day they mop up the blood on the floor: “Ronda rikatanga kubuda ropa iri hauritarisa. Uye ropa racho rinobuda with so much pressure kuzara floor yese iyi.

“He passes blood almost every day and I fear that he has lost too much blood already. Hakuna kwatisina kupinda tichitsvaga kuti chirwere chipi, muzvipatara varikushaya kuti chi. A biopsy was recommended so that they can determine if it’s not cancerous and he is yet to have it done because there is no money,” interjected the sister.

As Chiwanza grapples with coming to terms with this odd health condition, his sister Grace, can be forgiven for also suspecting that his brother was bewitched as doctors are even still struggling to come up with any diagnosis to explain his condition.

For the agonising Chiwanza family, their prayer to finding a solution only lies in getting the biopsy conducted, a process which requires financial resources which at the moment are elusive considering that Ronald is out of employment.